<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>much more by delightwrites</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26362696">much more</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/delightwrites/pseuds/delightwrites'>delightwrites</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Merlin (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drunken Shenanigans, Everyone Is Alive, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, idk what else to tag this</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 06:15:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,530</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26362696</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/delightwrites/pseuds/delightwrites</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"For a second, Merlin looked taken aback. Then he smiled, widely, the way perhaps only he could smile.<br/>“Buying a drink for your servant, sire? I thought you couldn’t...” he said, shaking his head.<br/>“Shush, Merlin, it’s not for my servant, it’s for uhm... my court sorcerer.”"</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>in which Arthur and Merlin get into a bar fight, raid Gwaine's closet and sit on the floor, while a great realisation is made</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>228</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>much more</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>arthur pov! time to get my one braincell that is pure of heart, dumb of ass, bi of sexual and the one that is head over heels in love with colin morgan!!</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>when is this set, you may ask? i have no idea, probably in an alternate, happy version of season 6 if it was ever made...<br/>anyways, hope you like it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="">
  <p>The Rising Sun was busy, as it always was this time of the day. The guards and servants of the castle and the townspeople came here to unwind after the day’s work. But tonight, it wasn’t just them.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Arthur gestured for two jugs of mead as he sat next to Merlin. When he got served, he passed one of them to him while lightly punching his shoulder.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>For a second, Merlin looked taken aback. Then he smiled, widely, the way perhaps only he could smile.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Buying a drink for your servant, sire? I thought you couldn’t...” he said, shaking his head.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Shush, Merlin, it’s not for my servant, it’s for uhm... my court sorcerer.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>It was a new world after all, one where there was peace in the land. And where Merlin had magic (Arthur still wasn’t sure how long it was going to take him to get used to the thought. But it seemed to make Merlin feel better if he acted like it was just another thing to tease his servant about, so that’s what he did.)</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin laughed.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“There’s no such thing as a court sorcerer anymore, Arthur.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“But,” Arthur tried to find what he wanted to say just a moment ago. God, he was getting drunk and apparently Merlin of all people was the one drinking him under the table. “There used to be. And there should be, y’know... to advise the king on...”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Sorcery?” Merlin helped out.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Yeah, sorcery. That. And to do whatever it is that court sorcerers do.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“You have no idea what that is, right?” Merlin giggled into his mead.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Well, am I the one who’s got to know? You’re the court sorcerer, not me!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Arthur, last time I checked, I wasn’t court sorcerer.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“But would you want to be?” he asked and surprised even himself with this question. He’d been joking before but it wasn’t such a bad idea, was it?</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin frowned.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“If I asked you, would you be Camelot’s court sorcerer?” Arthur asked now with more confidence. “You’d do everything like how you did before, but you wouldn’t have to keep it secret.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin would get recognition and gratitude in this new world, even if he said he didn’t want it. Arthur would make sure.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>(Oh, if his father could be rolling in his grave.)</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I...” Merlin started and he just stared into his jug. “I couldn’t exactly be your servant anymore, then...”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Arthur looked at him and found himself staring for a while. No, Merlin was right, he couldn’t. Nothing would be the same, then.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I’d survive,” Arthur said but noticed Merlin wince. Wrong choice of words. “I’ll be fine, Merlin, you’d still be there to look out for me, I know there’s just no retiring for you. And besides,” he added, to lighten the mood. “You are still the worst servant ever, so really, you probably should just stick to magic.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin snorted at that.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“So, what’s the answer, mister possible court sorcerer? O great Emrys? Lord Merlin of Ealdor?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He couldn’t hold back his laugh at that and Arthur was happy to see his cheerful mood return.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Well, why not!” Merlin said, making a grimace and throwing up his arms dramatically.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Arthur nodded, then stood up, trying - and at first, failing - to put his foot up on his chair.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“A round on me!” he announced loudly and received a round of applause and cheers from all around the tavern. “Let’s drink to my new court sorcerer!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>More cheers came, especially from the nearby table where the knights of Camelot settled for the evening. There was also an especially loud whistle coming from somewhere that way and Arthur was convinced it was Gwaine.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Sorcerer?” a voice asked and soon it became clear who it belonged to. A group of thugs who’d just happened to loose a smaller fortune on the gamble against Merlin that night. (Arthur did not gamble against him, never again, that cheating bastard. But he had enabled, and perhaps even encouraged him after a few drinks tonight to use his powers, mostly because the looks on the opponents’ faces were so hilarious.)</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“You used magic to cheat, you little rat!” One of the group pointed an accusing finger at Merlin and pulled a knife.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>That was a mistake.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The knights rose from the table as one. Arthur stepped forward with a smirk and grabbed the man’s wrist, twisting it so he dropped his knife. In a second, the whole tavern looked like one giant wrestling match.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Arthur was busy dealing with another one of the tugs and only saw from the corner of his eyes Gwaine grinning like he was having the time of his life, then Percival pushing two heads together, and then Merlin looking kind of lost in the middle of it all. The first man who spoke out was heading towards him and Merlin braced himself for the encounter. He held his head high and glanced at the pitcher that was left on the table. For a second, Arthur saw his eyes flash with gold, and hell<em>,</em> Arthur still wasn’t quiet used to that but if they weren’t in the middle of a brawl he probably would have stopped to think about what a good look it was on Merlin.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He didn’t have time for that. The pitcher rose from the table and went flying through the air, dropping itself on... Merlin’s head.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Camelot’s newly appointed court sorcerer only had time for a confused <em>ow</em> before collapsing to the ground, covered in mead and his attacker still rising above him. That couldn’t have been what Merlin planned, could it?</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Arthur essentially dived through the table that was separating him from Merlin and with a well-timed hook, he knocked out the man who headed for him.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“<em>Ow</em>,” repeated Merlin his earlier reaction as he woke up and rubbed the back of his head.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Arthur offered him a hand and when Merlin accepted it, pulled him to his feet.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Sire!” Leon called out to them from somewhere in the crowd. “We should go!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“You alright?” Arthur asked Merlin. The other nodded, so he grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards the door.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Once they were all outside, Arthur could finally stop to catch his breath.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“What,” he turned to Merlin as they headed back towards the castle, “was that?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“What?” asked Merlin, still rubbing his head. “Oh, that. Must be ‘cause I’m a bit drunk,” he said with a shrug and an awkward grin. “My magic feels funny.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I think it <em>was</em> funny, Merlin, that was real talent in there!” Gwaine teased. “The greatest sorcerer ever to walk the earth and you knock yourself out with your own magic.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Hey!” protested Merlin.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“No, he’s right,” Percival grinned. “Are you sure it’s not too late to appoint another court sorcerer, Arthur?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Well, I’ll think about it,” Arthur said with a similar grin.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Wha-” Merlin started his protest again. “Who? You don’t even know any other sorcerers!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I know Gaius,” Arthur shrugged, then had an idea. A simply wonderful, hilarious idea. “And I also know a great sorceress. She lives at the Cauldorn of Ariadrhon. You know, Merlin, I think she’d do better than you. And I’d only have to pay her in clothes...”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin’s face was beginning to turn a shade of red identical to his scarf and Arthur laughed.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Reaching the castle gates, the guards simply let them through as soon as they recognised Arthur (though he briefly wondered just what they could have been thinking about their king returning from the Lower Town at such an hour).</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>In the courtyard, the knights began bidding goodnight and Arthur found he really didn’t like the idea of settling for the night. He had no idea how late it was, only that he felt it to be way too early.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He could order them to stay, he thought. Or he could challenge Gwaine to a drinking match, but given the state he was in already, he guessed he wouldn’t be able to stand his ground for long.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He just stood on the courtyard, watching helplessly as his friends parted for the night. Then someone tugged at his sleeve.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Come with me,” Merlin said and giggled. At the suspicious - and very, very tired - glance Leon shot back at them, he added, “I think I hit my head harder than I thought. Come with me to Gaius?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Arthur nodded.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin dragged him by the arm along the west corridor, then turned left and slid between two pillars. It was a tight space and Arthur could feel Merlin’s arm pressed against his.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He had no idea how long had passed when Merlin pulled him out from behind the pillars and, still leading him by the arm, headed towards... the courtyard.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Wait, this wasn’t right-</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>They should be going the other way.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Did Merlin really hit his head worse than they thought?</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“What are you doing?” he hissed at Merlin. “I thought you said you hurt your head and like an honorable gentleman, I had to go with you to Gaius!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>In all honesty, Arthur had no idea why he phrased it like this. <em>Like an honorable gentleman</em>. That sounded like escorting a shy noble lady back to her chambers.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin was a lot of things, but shy, noble and lady were definitely not among them.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Yeah, that was a lie,” said the sorcerer with a shrug. Arthur frowned. “Okay, not a lie, an exaggeration, then.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Arthur nodded. Lying to each other had been pretty much off the table for them for a while now. They’d grown tired of both lying and being lied to.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I said that because I wanted you to follow me but didn’t want to be suspicious,” admitted Merlin. “Because... I have a great idea!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He was smiling and oh no, it was <em>that</em> smile.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“What is it?” Arthur asked, trying to sound like he didn’t actually care that much. He even rolled his eyes for the full effect.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Want to come and raid Gwaine’s closet with me?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>There was a glint in Merlin’s eyes, almost as bright as when he did magic, and Arthur found himself nodding before he could even think the question through and then, before he could really realise what they were doing, he was sneaking along the corridor leading to the knights’ chambers with Merlin.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The door of Gwaine’s room was locked. (Arthur checked. Or rather, he tried to march straight through it and when the lock didn’t open, he began violently shaking the doorknob until Merlin shushed him.)</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I’ve got this,” he said and waved nonchalantly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Then, like it was nothing, he raised his open palm in front of the lock and muttered a few words that Arthur didn’t understand for the life of him.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Arthur snorted. Perhaps it was only because he was drunk, or because this really was a new world and a new Arthur, but for a second he wondered how magic could ever be considered evil when it could be used for fun things like this. (The list of practical jokes Merlin could be doing with the help of magic seemed practically endless in that moment. It was a funny thought, until Arthur realised most of those pratical jokes could very well be used on him too.)</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Then the lock exploded.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Literally. It blew to pieces, right in front of them.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Arthur laughed, even though it really, really wasn’t funny.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Yeah, that’s not what I planned,” mumbled Merlin, staring at the exploded lock with his hair sticking up everywhere like he’d been standing outside in a windstorm for too long.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“What now, genius?” Arthur asked.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Well...” Merlin tried gently pushing in the door. “It’s open.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>No one seemed to hear the explosion, not even Gwaine who was apparently sleeping soundly sprawled out on his bed, luckily for both of them (and that was saying something, because both of them having such luck, at the same time, that just never happened. That was why they constantly got themselves into bigger and bigger messes.)</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>They tiptoed over to the cupboard, Arthur insisting to be first, partly out of priniciple and partly because apparently Merlin’s magic was now as clumsy as usually everything about Merlin.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Opening the cupboard, he picked a bottle of something (he probably didn’t want to know what) out of Gwaine’s rather vast secret collection. Arthur hadn’t known about it before, but apparently Merlin had, and if anything, that was rather unfair.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Got it,” he said, flashing a smile at Merlin.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The sorcerer gave him a thumbs up and headed for the door. Then he proceeded to trip over Gwaine’s boots that... well, they just lay there on the floor in the middle of the room.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Under different circumstances, Arthur would have rolled his eyes because really, that was just typical Merlin. But now for some reason, his only (rather slow) reaction was that he needed to help him.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The thought that maybe, just maybe he <em>shouldn’t</em> have dropped the bottle they just got their hands on, just to catch Merlin’s hand and be dragged down to the floor with him, came too late.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>On his bed, Gwaine snored and shifted his position.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Arthur froze in his place.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Arthur,” whispered Merlin, his breath warm against Arthur’s neck. (Oddly enough, Arthur suddenly had quite a few thoughts about that.)</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Shh!” Arthur said, dismissing Merlin and his stupid thoughts at the same time. How effective, really.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Arthur!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Shut up, Merlin!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“You’re crushing me, you dollophead!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Arthur frowned. That was not really nice.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Are you saying I’m fat again?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“No, I’m just saying I’d rather you got your perfectly-average-for-a-royal-ass-like-you weight off me!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Arthur grunted but decided to show mercy and rolled over on the floor. Merlin let out a (definitely exaggerated, because Arthur wasn’t fat, thank you very much) sigh of relief.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Come on, Merlin, don’t you fall asleep on Gwaine’s bedroom floor. How would that look?” Arthur said, lightly kicking Merlin’s leg with his boot.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>They both struggled to their feet and Arthur managed to scramble the bottle off of the ground. Once again they got lucky, as he delightfully remarked when he saw the bottle still in one piece. Leaving the unsuspecting knight’s bedroom, and especially its doors in the poor state they were in, Arthur and Merlin climbed the stairs up to Arthur’s room.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Huh, it’s cold,” said Merlin as they entered and he pulled his jacket tigher around his shoulders, hiding half his face in his scarf.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Here,” Arthur handed him their loot from Gwaine’s cupboard. He tried it already, it was terribly strong and tasted like something brewed in a village, by someone who had absolutely no business brewing alcohol, but still did it.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin took the bottle and made a funny face after taking a sip. “Nice,” he commented and Arthur briefly wondered what kind of drinks could be made in Ealdor, if this one counted as <em>nice</em> for Merlin.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He drank again after Merlin gave the bottle back.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Actually, Merlin, it’s still cold,” he said. “Light the fireplace, would you?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin nodded and reached for the flint above the fireplace, crouching to light up the fire.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Uh, Merlin?” Arthur asked. “Can’t you just... light it with magic?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>(His father would have sooner pulled down the citadel, than hear his son say those words. But this was a new world.)</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Fine, but if I accidentally blow up the fireplace, it’s your fault,” Merlin giggled and waved his hand, as if directly shoving away any responsibility.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Arthur shook his head with a smile, then focused all his attention to what Merlin was doing. The truth is, he enjoyed the idea of magic being used in small, mundane ways. It seemed to defy the very belief Arthur was brought up with, but well, many things in his life defied that lately.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin, especially.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Arthur suddenly felt like he really, really needed another drink. He drank as he watched Merlin crouch by the fire, bowing his head slightly. As he watched Merlin’s eyes light up like-</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>There was no word for it. Or if there was, Arthur couldn’t find it for now.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>(<em>Like the surface of a lake when the first sunlight of dawn hit it</em>.)</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The fire didn’t light up. The whole room did.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Tiny specks of-... of light danced around in the air in Arthur’s chamber. Okay, that was weird.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>But it was also unlike anything he’s seen before.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Oh,” Merlin said with a sigh. He knelt down by the fireplace, seeming embarassed. “I didn’t mean to do that, sorry.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I guessed as much.” Arthur slowly lowered himself down next to him and handed him the bottle. “But I like it, actually.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He wasn’t lying. (They didn’t really lie, not anymore.) The light swirled around in the room, some of it settling on their clothes and in their hair as they sat on the floor.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin gave him back the bottle and if Arthur hand’t been watching him closely, he wouldn’t have noticed him blush.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Arthur drank.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“We should have done this years ago,” he said, borrowing confidence from the bottle in his hand.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin furrowed his brows.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Should have done what?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“This,” Arthur gestured around vaguely. To the floor they were sitting on, to the bottle they shared, to the light around them. To Merlin, maybe. “I’m sorry you couldn’t tell me earlier. I’m sorry I wasn’t that person yet. If I had been...”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“It would have been a miracle if you’d been. Your father-”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“He was wrong.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>(Oh, if he could see him now. The King of Camelot. Here, with a servant. With a sorcerer. He would hate Arthur, like he’d hated Morgana in the end, but in this moment, in this new world, Arthur felt like that didn’t matter. Certainly not as much as other things did.)</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“He was wrong,” he repeated. “About magic, and about Morgana. About you too... And me.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“He was,” said Merlin softly. “I’m sorry, Arthur. That couldn’t have been easy to realise.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Easier than you think,” Arthur shook his head. “I should have known better.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“He was your father.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“And Morgana my sister!” <em>And you my friend.</em></p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“But now you know better,” Merlin pointed it out, like it was the most obvious thing in the world and he reached for the bottle. Arthur nodded begrudingly and handed it to him. And maybe, maybe he left his hand there longer than it was necessary. They both did.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I should have realised it sooner,” Arthur insisted. He’d owed it to his kingdom, to those of his people with magic. The druids. Mordred. Morgana. Merlin.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Well, technically you <em>should have </em>realised I have magic, given the times I used it right under your nose,” Merlin said jokingly and bless him, he tried to cheer Arthur up the way <em>he</em> had tried in the past, by lightly punching Arthur in the arm. “But you didn’t, because let’s face it, you are oblivious and also a cabbage-head.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Arthur snorted.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin was right, he hadn’t once suspected him of having magic. (He used to believe magic was evil, okay? And well, Merlin wasn’t. Never.) He didn’t notice any of the spells muttered in secret, the regularly sneaking out of the castle, the destiny weighing on Merlin’s shoulders, heavy like the crown on his own head, even heavier.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>But he did notice other things.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>And he still kept noticing them. The face Merlin made when he took special care to fix his cape on his shoulders, and how it was the same face as the one he made when neatly adjusting his own scarf. The way Merlin’s dark hair looked like a bird’s nest, in the mornings when he came to wake him. The smile he had reserved for the special - and quite frequent - occasions when he was making fun of Arthur.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Wait-</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin was right, he really was <em>so </em>oblivious.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot and a fool, fool, fool-</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He reached out and took Merlin’s hand (oh, this was an entire different kind of courage than the one he needed on the battlefield. He still found it, somewhere deep within.)</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin - his servant, his sorcerer, his friend - looked at him and Arthur looked back, into his eyes.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>(<em>A</em> s<em>oft blue lake - maybe it was </em>that<em> lake. Not when sunlight drowned in it, but when it reflected the light of stars</em>.)</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The moment seemed to stretch into eternity and neither of them dared to move.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p><em>Courage, you idiot</em>, Arthur told himself.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>And he was moving, his lips on Merlin’s, his free hand on the back of his neck and he felt Merlin freeze for a split second. Then felt him melt into the kiss.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin’s hand was warm as it cupped the side of his face, his lips soft against his, and the room seemed to erupt in light.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Arthur had died and now he lived in this new world.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>In this new world where there was peace and prosperity and freedom. Where there was magic. Where (he could still barely believe) he was sitting on the floor and kissing Merlin.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin, who was his servant. Who he loved. Who was a sorcerer.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin, who was so much more.</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this is it, my friends</p>
<p>title borrowed from andrzej sapkowski's the witcher because it's just.... it's all about love and destiny and if anything makes me go crazy, it's that (make a wild guess why i fell in love with merlin)</p>
<p>if you liked it, kudos and comments give me life</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>find me on tumblr @sky-mage and please yell about these clotpoles to me, i love them so much</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>